Hi all,
This is my first post for the semester as I went overseas during the break and only just recently started my internship.
I'm doing my placement at Metro City, the biggest club venue in Perth. Although I'm not working with a "public relations department", I am taking on roles which would be expected of a PR graduate.
I had my first real collision with crisis management the other day when the "Wild West Comedy Festival" had to cancel their event with Metro City. They had failed to sell enough tickets to cover the cost of staffing the event and though the contract stated that they were to forfeit the deposit should such a thing occur, they came over to talk to our Venue Manager.
Kim Westwood (Venue Manager), Jacquie Kelly (Events Manager) and I entered into a meeting with the organizers to find another arrangement. They came to the conclusion that the deposit would be returned to the company and that the Wild West organisers would be responsible for finding a replacement venue. From there I was asked to create a release, detailing the event cancellation and to give details of the new venue once they were passed on. This was then to be posted on the Metro City website and to be distributed through all our social media platforms.
It made me think about how crisis management can differ between types of organizations and though it may not have seemed like a big crisis for the club it was pertinent to practice good public relations should they choose to hold an event in the future. It was interesting to have noted and reinforced in a real world situation that for businesses, making a profit and good PR don't always go hand in hand.
In the same sense, it made me appreciate that a "crisis" is relative, it really depends on what your business does and what kind of social responsibility it has. For example, this "crisis" cannot be compared to something like the Exxon Valdez spill, but it could in fact influence their reputation and possible business for the future.
Hope you are all enjoying your placements!
Nicole
3 comments:
Hi Nicole,
Thanks for your post! It must be great working at Metro City! Crisis management is a topic that has always intrigued me. As I work in-house for a small furniture company I too have come across various crises that differ from larger corporations that lead to disasters. It has made me realise that no business is immune to crisis (no matter how small it may be) and emphasizes the importance of crises planning.
It sounds as though you and your team came up with a great communication strategy and a successful outcome. Thank god for social media!!
All the best for the remainder of your placement. I look forward to reading more of your posts.
Courtney
Hi Nicole,
How unfortunate that you had to deal with a crisis at your internship! We are taught about crisis management right through our degree but experiencing it first hand really opens your eyes that a crisis can be anything, and doesn't have to be as extreme as Exon Valdez as you pointed out.
I am helping organise the City to Surf and we had scheduled for Robyn McSweeney to accept a certain award on behalf of the volunteers that helped out. She then wasn't able to do it, so we got Albert Jacob, however two days before he also said he couldn't do it so we had no one to accept this award. We went without and Activ CEO Tony Vis accepted it. But I understand where you are coming from when you talk about appreciating the crisis even though it may not seem as big as others.
Without crisis management, it is safe to say an organisation would not survive. Preparation for anything and everything is vital and it is the way that an organisation deals with a crisis is what makes or break them and stays with your image and reputation.
I hope you enjoy the rest of your placement and don't have to deal with any more crises whilst you're interning!
Steph Sbrocco
Hi Nicole,
your post on crisis management at your work placement was interesting as it made me think more about how organisations should react when they are faced with a difficult situation that they have to deal with. During the course of my internship, I was fortunate enough to not have to deal with any major problems but I definitely anticipate dealing with such situations during the course of my work in the future. As an organisation or company, dealing with the problem or crisis in the most professional and effective manner is important to ensure that the situation is kept under control and the problem is dealt with in the best possible way. As such, I decided to research on crisis management in public relations and I found numerous case studies that explained how companies and their public relations teams (internal or external) managed to solve a crisis. Learning from experience is the best approach as now you are equipped with the necessary skills to know how to handle a crisis situation if you were to encounter one in the future!
Deva
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